Notes / Commercial Description:
This beer style was created in the mid-1750's. A dark full-flavoured beer but smoother and less bitter than stout. Made with softened water, Propeller London Porter is a blend of pale, roasted and chocolate malts, hopped with English and North American varieties.

Porter was the drink of the masses long before lagers or modern ales were fashionable. The name Porter originated because this strong, nourishing drink was reputed to be the favourite beverage of the hard working porters of London's Covent Gardens.

User Reviews

On tap at the brewery.
Near black body is opaque with dark ruby highlights. The tan head is creamy and durable.
Chocolate and coffee in the nose both reappear in the flavor but with faint coffee and lots of dark roasted grains.
Smooth, full body.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown. Good looking brew. Smells is roasty but also sweet. Dark malt meets a dark sugary sweetness. Flavor is roasty, chocolatey and quite sweet. The sweetness dries out during the finish, which is preferred. Has more body than what you'd expect from a beer at 5%. A simple Porter.

O- Overall, I have to say that this is a great beer. No, it certainly isn't the best Porter i've ever tasted but it definitely deserves a taste. If you haven't had a brew from Propeller, I highly recommend their entire selection. I've yet to taste a bad brew from them. A++

Bottle from the brewery
Pours a solid dark brown with ruby highlights and a smallish off white head that dissipates rather quickly. Aromas of roasted grain, toffee, caramel and hints of earthy. The flavor follows the aroma quite well. Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation. Decent porter, I prefer them a bit more robust, but this one is tasty.

APPEARANCE: Pours a one finger, medium looking, light tan head with good retention. Dark brown, transparent body with next to no carbonation evident. Head fades to a splotchy wisp and ring, but leaves no lacing down the glass.

TASTE: Follows the nose nicely, with roasted and chocolate malts, sweet cream and vanilla flacors up front. More cream at the swallow with a light touch of bitter coffee and powdered cocoa. Mild but lingering aftertaste is a nice mix of roasted malts, sweet cream and bitter cocoa. Pretty good really.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. A little light, unfortunately, but creamy enough on the palate, Goes down smooth and finishes slightly dry. A touch more weight would help here.

OVERALL: A good beer that has held up well I imagine. While it is probably bolder, more aromatic and flavorful when fresh, this was certainly a pleasure to drink after a couple years. A fuller palate and it would be even more of a pleasure, but that is often my complaint with this style. Regardless, well worth checking out if you get the chance. Cheers guys! Recommended.

Taste: Ouch. To me, this is not a good example of the style. THe beer is thin, dull and not complex at all. Flavor profile consists of some roasted grain, but goes no further. There is some lingering hop bitterness to the brew.

Mouthfeel: Again, thin, roasty, although very slick to drink.

Overall: This was a disappointment. This beer lacks any brilliance to make a drinker come back for more.

Almost-black, thin-looking body topped with a patchy cover of mocha-coloured head. Some lacing.

Bready nose with pumpernickel and cracker, roast malt, minerals, a touch lactic, a little caramel and a hint of boiled vegetable.

On the light side flavour-wise but well-balanced and on-style. A little watery with roast malt, bread and light notes of cocoa and coffee. Boiled vegetable sneaks in here too; not strongly but enough to be a little distracting. The finish is short, leaving only traces of roast and cocoa; some more drying could be an improvement.

Pretty light body but it's not too out of place. Medium-low carbonation.

I was hoping for more with this one; their bitter is one of my favourites in the country, I thought they would nail an English porter too. It's pretty easy drinking (extra points given here for that) but not flavourful enough for my taste. A decent porter but I wouldn't pick this up again.

22 oz. standard bomber, bottled the first week of June, 2011 and sampled the week after that in Nova Scotia - talk about fresh! Brewed with pale, crystal, chocolate and roast malts, and Warrior and Willamette hops; 39 IBUs. Pours nearly completely black, with 1/2" of frothy tan head that leaves nice sheets of lace, but eventually dissipates almost completely. Mild roast in the nose, with light coffee, milk chocolate, a dash of hops, and earthy yeast. Quite roasted on the palate, earthy, with charred malts, light hops, a bit of ethanol, and a bitterness that is more roast than hop. A touch too acidic and charred, but still balanced enough. The body is lightish, dry, creamy at times, with a bit too much carbonation and a bitter/charred finish. Easy enough to drink, but a little too roasted to make it a good session beer. Would probably go well with food though, I'm thinking a seared steak.

Pours a very dark brown, almost opaque with the smallest ruby highlights seen when held to the light. A two finger tan head is formed with a decent thickness to it, this falls to a thin head. Nose has milk chocolate, mild roast but mostly milk qualities and notes of caramel, chocolate and roast - none of which stand out more than the others. Taste has some mild chocolate and roast, slight bitterness and a mild dryness. Not alot else going on in this department. A bit light and somewhat watery in the body, the carbonation here is too high for my liking initially - had to swirl this one around quite a bit to get it to a desirable level. Moderately drinkable and alright for the most part, if uninteresting for the better part.

A - The beer has a dark brown, opaque body, topped by a rich, yet airy light caramel head. Lots of small bubbles can be visible at the start. Head retention and lacing are quite good. Looks like a beautiful porter to me!

S - The beer gives out a nice roasty arome, with loads of chocolate and caramel notes, some dark fruit, vanilla, and a little smokiness to it. Not super-intense but strong enough.

T - Starts out pretty sweet, with chocolate, vanilla, and caramel notes and a very nice roastiness. Then comes a bit of earthy hops and a touch of smokiness. The finish is fairly bitter, with lingering roasted notes. There is nothing unique about this porter, but everything about it is just very tasty, so it tastes excellent

M - Medium body to it. Quite effervescent at first, which is normal for porters, this beer becomes quite mild after. No trace of alcohol. Moderately dry and bitter.

D - The drinkability is great on this one. The beer goes down like a charm. Being not too thick and not at all boozy, it is super sessionable, all the while being delightful.

Overall, this is one of the finer Canadian porters I've had, and probably one that's closest to the British examples of the style.

Thank to BBrianBoogie for this one. Bottled Feb 2010, poured into a beer mug.

Pours a virtually opaque black. When held to a halogen bulb a bit of red comes through. Little head is apparent, and no lacing. This though is the only letdown of the beer. The aroma is excellent, with notes of licorice and sweet molasses dominating. The body is quite complex and is rich, sweet and almost chewy. The flavour is perhaps missing some roastiness, but has an excellent balance between the licorice and the seeming oak notes within the beer. If I spent the time, I could likely pick out a dozen different flavours in the beer, but I am enjoying it too much right now to be analyzing it... I honestly wonder if this beer has ben aged on wood... Excellent, I could drink this all night and not get sick of it.

Thanks to cjbmcdon for this one. Split with my wife with our supper, ecuadorian chicken.

Poured from a 650ml. bottle, bottled 3rd week of April 2010.

Appearance: Lots of light brown foam atop an opaque black body with brownish tints and major lacing left behind.

Smell: Roasted notes with malt, chocolate and some hops.

Taste: Roasted flavor but not burnt with a bit of coffee but mostly cocoa. Not bitter at all except when it warms up a bit. Very malt-like though the hops come out more as it nears room temp. My wife detects some smokiness in there though i find it barely perceptible. Very flavorful.

Mouthfeel: Velvety smooth with a low carbonation. Coats the mouth and has a great balance.

Drinkability: Very high. No troubles at all.

Overall: Porters are not my strong suit but i believe this one ranks as one of my favorites. Highly recommended.

Pours an incredibly deep, bordering black, chestnut brown with one finger of creamy light tan head that displays good retention and leaves thick sticky lines of lace.

Milk chocolate, vanilla, and espresso are easily found over a roasted and toasty malt backdrop with a bit of an earthy edge. Rich and quite inviting.

Earthy and semi-sweet in the taste with the notes of chocolate being less pronounced than the nose would lead you to believe. The roasty character is present throughout, but really comes through in the end when paired with a lingering coffee grind bitterness.

Mouthfeel is wonderfully silky, smooth, and medium bodied. I'd never think a Porter could be refreshing, but this one proved me wrong.

I'd say that this is my favourite offering from Propeller and also my favourite English Porter I've had to date. It sports an average ABV but is still packed with flavour and doesn't lack in body. Very well balanced and very easy to drink. The Halifax beer scene is great, and this beer attests to it.

The beer is black with nice red color on the edge. No head, only a very thin film of small bubbles. The smell provides notes of smokiness... so good. Hint of roasted malts. I note the presence of chocolate in the aroma. The taste is smoky. I don't get much roasted malts. The bitterness shows is presence in the aftertaste.

Carbonation is felt in the mouth, maybe a little too much. Very refreshing and easy to drink.

Halifax's Propeller Brewery, in my opinion, makes the best British Style Beer's in North America. I've yet to find one comparable to the Porter or the Best Bitter.

For the Porter

Appearance - 750ml bottle shipped from Halifax to Ottawa. 1 month old. Dark dark brown, as a porter should look. Minimal head (similar to other Propellers).

Smell - Delicious sweet malt with a touch of hops. Bread, chocolate and hints of raison.

Taste - A perfect balance of Sweet and Bitter. Less bitter than a stout and sweeter than a traditional porter. Almost like a Porter with a touch of a sweet German Dopplebock. Chocolate and smooth malty caramel come through. A touch of bitterness.

A delicious beer and in my opinion one of the best Porter's around.

I would love to see Propeller make some bottle conditioned beers as i still find they are missing something to make them perfect. A touch of yeast with a nice foamy head would make these the perfect beers.